Vientiane (VNA) – Laos expects to serve 1.4 million domestic and foreign tourists this year withrevenue from the tourism sector expected to reach more than 340 million USD,according to the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism.
The ministry plans to promotecommunity-based tourism to attract foreign visitors while further stepping upthe campaign “Lao Thiao Lao” (Laotians visit Laos) to serve 1.2 million domestictourists in 2023.
The ministry launched the campaign in2020 to call on Lao people to use domestic tourism services.
Speaking at a meeting on January 23-24, Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism Suanesavanh Vignaket saidthat the ministry will cooperate with central and local agencies to outlinetourism development plans and improve local infrastructure at tourism sites tomake them meet ASEAN standards.
Laos has begun preparing for the arrivalof Chinese tourists after it was listed among 20 countries greenlit by theChinese government for outbound group tours.
Lao Airlines plans to operate moreflights to welcome Chinese tourists. The airline currently operates threeflights a week from the Lao capital city of Vientiane to Kunming in southwest China'sYunnan province.
Laos recorded over 1.6 million domesticand foreign tourists last year./.